بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ وَٱلذَّٰرِيَٰتِ ذَرْوًۭا

CONSIDER the winds that scatter the dust far and wide,

فَٱلْحَٰمِلَٰتِ وِقْرًۭا

and those that carry the burden [of heavy clouds],

فَٱلْجَٰرِيَٰتِ يُسْرًۭا

and those that speed along with gentle ease,

فَٱلْمُقَسِّمَٰتِ أَمْرًا

and those that apportion [the gift of life] at [God’s] behest!

إِنَّمَا تُوعَدُونَ لَصَادِقٌۭ

Verily, that which you are promised is true indeed,

وَإِنَّ ٱلدِّينَ لَوَٰقِعٌۭ

and, verily, judgment is bound to come!

وَٱلسَّمَآءِ ذَاتِ ٱلْحُبُكِ

CONSIDER the firmament full of starry paths!

إِنَّكُمْ لَفِى قَوْلٍۢ مُّخْتَلِفٍۢ

Verily, [O men,] you are deeply at variance as to what to believe:

يُؤْفَكُ عَنْهُ مَنْ أُفِكَ

perverted in his views thereon is he who would deceive himself!

قُتِلَ ٱلْخَرَّٰصُونَ

They but destroy themselves, they who are given to guessing at what they cannot ascertain –

ٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ فِى غَمْرَةٍۢ سَاهُونَ

they who blunder along, in ignorance lost –

يَسْـَٔلُونَ أَيَّانَ يَوْمُ ٱلدِّينِ

they who [mockingly] ask, “When is that Day of Judgment to be?”

يَوْمَ هُمْ عَلَى ٱلنَّارِ يُفْتَنُونَ

[It will be] a Day when they will be sorely tried by the fire,

ذُوقُوا۟ فِتْنَتَكُمْ هَٰذَا ٱلَّذِى كُنتُم بِهِۦ تَسْتَعْجِلُونَ

[and will be told:] “Taste this your trial! It is this that you were so hastily asking for!”

إِنَّ ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ فِى جَنَّٰتٍۢ وَعُيُونٍ

[But,] behold, the God-conscious will find themselves amid gardens and springs,

ءَاخِذِينَ مَآ ءَاتَىٰهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ ۚ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا۟ قَبْلَ ذَٰلِكَ مُحْسِنِينَ

enjoying all that their Sustainer will have granted them [because], verily, they were doers of good in the past:

كَانُوا۟ قَلِيلًۭا مِّنَ ٱلَّيْلِ مَا يَهْجَعُونَ

they would lie asleep during but a small part of the night,

وَبِٱلْأَسْحَارِ هُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ

and would pray for forgiveness from their innermost hearts;

وَفِىٓ أَمْوَٰلِهِمْ حَقٌّۭ لِّلسَّآئِلِ وَٱلْمَحْرُومِ

and [would assign] in all that they possessed a due share unto such as might ask [for help] and such as might suffer priva­tion.

وَفِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ءَايَٰتٌۭ لِّلْمُوقِنِينَ

AND ON EARTH there are signs [of God’s exis­tence, visible] to all who are endowed with inner certainty,

وَفِىٓ أَنفُسِكُمْ ۚ أَفَلَا تُبْصِرُونَ

just as [there are signs thereof] within your own selves: can you not, then, see?

وَفِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ رِزْقُكُمْ وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ

And in heaven is [the source of] your sus­tenance [on earth] and [of] all that you are promised [for your life after death]:

فَوَرَبِّ ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ إِنَّهُۥ لَحَقٌّۭ مِّثْلَ مَآ أَنَّكُمْ تَنطِقُونَ

for, by the Sustainer of heaven and earth, this [life after death] is the very truth - as true as that you are endowed with speech!

هَلْ أَتَىٰكَ حَدِيثُ ضَيْفِ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ ٱلْمُكْرَمِينَ

AND HAS the story of Abraham’s honoured guests ever come within thy ken?

إِذْ دَخَلُوا۟ عَلَيْهِ فَقَالُوا۟ سَلَٰمًۭا ۖ قَالَ سَلَٰمٌۭ قَوْمٌۭ مُّنكَرُونَ

When those [heavenly messengers] came unto him and bade him peace, he answered, “[And upon you be] peace!” - [saying to himself,] “They are strangers.”

فَرَاغَ إِلَىٰٓ أَهْلِهِۦ فَجَآءَ بِعِجْلٍۢ سَمِينٍۢ

Then he turned quietly to his household, and brought forth a fat [roasted] calf,

فَقَرَّبَهُۥٓ إِلَيْهِمْ قَالَ أَلَا تَأْكُلُونَ

and placed it before them, saying, “Will you not eat?”

فَأَوْجَسَ مِنْهُمْ خِيفَةًۭ ۖ قَالُوا۟ لَا تَخَفْ ۖ وَبَشَّرُوهُ بِغُلَٰمٍ عَلِيمٍۢ

[And when he saw that the guests would not eat,] he became apprehensive of them; [but] they said, “Fear not” - and gave him the glad tiding of [the birth of] a son who would be endowed with deep knowledge.

فَأَقْبَلَتِ ٱمْرَأَتُهُۥ فِى صَرَّةٍۢ فَصَكَّتْ وَجْهَهَا وَقَالَتْ عَجُوزٌ عَقِيمٌۭ

Thereupon his wife approached [the guests] with a loud cry, and struck her face [in astonishment] and exclaimed: “A barren old woman [like me]!”

قَالُوا۟ كَذَٰلِكِ قَالَ رَبُّكِ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْحَكِيمُ ٱلْعَلِيمُ

They answered: “Thus has thy Sustainer decreed; and, verily, He alone is truly wise, all- knowing!”

۞ قَالَ فَمَا خَطْبُكُمْ أَيُّهَا ٱلْمُرْسَلُونَ

Said [Abraham]: “And what [else] may you have in view, O you [heavenly] messengers?”

قَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّآ أُرْسِلْنَآ إِلَىٰ قَوْمٍۢ مُّجْرِمِينَ

They answered: “Behold, we have been sent unto a people lost in sin,

لِنُرْسِلَ عَلَيْهِمْ حِجَارَةًۭ مِّن طِينٍۢ

to let loose upon them stone-hard blows of chastisement,

مُّسَوَّمَةً عِندَ رَبِّكَ لِلْمُسْرِفِينَ

marked out in thy Sustainer’s sight for [the punishment of] such as have wasted their own selves.”

فَأَخْرَجْنَا مَن كَانَ فِيهَا مِنَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ

And in the course of time We brought out [of Lot ’s city] such [few] believers as were there:

فَمَا وَجَدْنَا فِيهَا غَيْرَ بَيْتٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْمُسْلِمِينَ

for apart from one [single] house We did not find there any who had surrendered themselves to Us.

وَتَرَكْنَا فِيهَآ ءَايَةًۭ لِّلَّذِينَ يَخَافُونَ ٱلْعَذَابَ ٱلْأَلِيمَ

And so We left therein a message for those who fear the grievous suffering [which awaits all evildoers].

وَفِى مُوسَىٰٓ إِذْ أَرْسَلْنَٰهُ إِلَىٰ فِرْعَوْنَ بِسُلْطَٰنٍۢ مُّبِينٍۢ

AND IN [the story of Pharaoh and] Moses, too, [We left the same message: for] when We sent him unto Pharaoh with [Our] manifest authority,

فَتَوَلَّىٰ بِرُكْنِهِۦ وَقَالَ سَٰحِرٌ أَوْ مَجْنُونٌۭ

and he turned away in [the pride of] his power and said, “A sorcerer [is this Moses], or a madman!” –

فَأَخَذْنَٰهُ وَجُنُودَهُۥ فَنَبَذْنَٰهُمْ فِى ٱلْيَمِّ وَهُوَ مُلِيمٌۭ

We seized him and his hosts, and cast them all into the sea: and [none but Pharaoh] himself was to blame [for what happened].

وَفِى عَادٍ إِذْ أَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلرِّيحَ ٱلْعَقِيمَ

And [you have the same message] in [what happened to the tribe of] Ad, when We let loose against them that life-destroying wind

مَا تَذَرُ مِن شَىْءٍ أَتَتْ عَلَيْهِ إِلَّا جَعَلَتْهُ كَٱلرَّمِيمِ

which spared nothing of what it came upon, but caused [all of] it to become like bones dead and decayed.

وَفِى ثَمُودَ إِذْ قِيلَ لَهُمْ تَمَتَّعُوا۟ حَتَّىٰ حِينٍۢ

And in [the story of the tribe of] Thamud, too, when they were told, “You shall enjoy your life for [but] a little while,”

فَعَتَوْا۟ عَنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهِمْ فَأَخَذَتْهُمُ ٱلصَّٰعِقَةُ وَهُمْ يَنظُرُونَ

after they had turned with disdain from their Sustainer’s commandment - whereupon the thunderbolt of punishment overtook them while they were [helplessly] looking on:

فَمَا ٱسْتَطَٰعُوا۟ مِن قِيَامٍۢ وَمَا كَانُوا۟ مُنتَصِرِينَ

for they were unable even to rise, and could not defend themselves.

وَقَوْمَ نُوحٍۢ مِّن قَبْلُ ۖ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا۟ قَوْمًۭا فَٰسِقِينَ

And [thus, too, We destroyed] Noah’s people aforetime: for they were iniquitous folk.

وَٱلسَّمَآءَ بَنَيْنَٰهَا بِأَيْي۟دٍۢ وَإِنَّا لَمُوسِعُونَ

AND IT IS We who have built the universe with [Our creative] power; and, verily, it is We who are steadily expanding it.

وَٱلْأَرْضَ فَرَشْنَٰهَا فَنِعْمَ ٱلْمَٰهِدُونَ

And the earth have We spread out wide - and how well have We ordered it!

وَمِن كُلِّ شَىْءٍ خَلَقْنَا زَوْجَيْنِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ

And in everything have We created oppos­ites, so that you might bear in mind [that God alone is One].

فَفِرُّوٓا۟ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ ۖ إِنِّى لَكُم مِّنْهُ نَذِيرٌۭ مُّبِينٌۭ

And so, [O Muhammad, say unto them:] “Flee unto God [from all that is false and evil]! Verily, I am a plain warner to you from Him!

وَلَا تَجْعَلُوا۟ مَعَ ٱللَّهِ إِلَٰهًا ءَاخَرَ ۖ إِنِّى لَكُم مِّنْهُ نَذِيرٌۭ مُّبِينٌۭ

And do not ascribe divinity to aught side by side with God: verily, I am a plain warner to you from Him!”

كَذَٰلِكَ مَآ أَتَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِم مِّن رَّسُولٍ إِلَّا قَالُوا۟ سَاحِرٌ أَوْ مَجْنُونٌ

[But] thus it is: never yet came any apostle to those who lived before their time but they said, “A spellbinder [Lit., "sorcerer".] [is he], or a madman!”

أَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِهِۦ ۚ بَلْ هُمْ قَوْمٌۭ طَاغُونَ

Have they, perchance, handed down this [way of thinking] as a legacy unto one another? Nay, they are people filled with overweening ar­rogance!

فَتَوَلَّ عَنْهُمْ فَمَآ أَنتَ بِمَلُومٍۢ

Turn, then, away from them, and thou shalt incur no blame;

وَذَكِّرْ فَإِنَّ ٱلذِّكْرَىٰ تَنفَعُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ

yet go on reminding [all who would listen]: for, verily, such a reminder will profit the believers.

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ

And [tell them that] I have not created the invisible beings and men to any end other than that they may [know and] worship Me.

مَآ أُرِيدُ مِنْهُم مِّن رِّزْقٍۢ وَمَآ أُرِيدُ أَن يُطْعِمُونِ

[But withal,] no sustenance do I ever demand of them, nor do I demand that they feed Me:

إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلرَّزَّاقُ ذُو ٱلْقُوَّةِ ٱلْمَتِينُ

for, verily, God Himself is the Provider of all sustenance, the Lord of all might, the Eternal!

فَإِنَّ لِلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا۟ ذَنُوبًۭا مِّثْلَ ذَنُوبِ أَصْحَٰبِهِمْ فَلَا يَسْتَعْجِلُونِ

And, verily, they who are bent on doing evil shall have their share [of evil] like unto the share of their fellows [of old]: so let them not ask Me to hasten [their doom]!

فَوَيْلٌۭ لِّلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ مِن يَوْمِهِمُ ٱلَّذِى يُوعَدُونَ

For, woe unto those who are bent on denying the truth - [woe] on the Day which they have been promised